Posts made in October, 2017

Sunday, October 4 I wonder if he’ll make it this week, Josie thought wistfully as she walked toward the high front steps of the church. The part of her that wasn’t distracted with her thoughts noted several determined‑looking young men heading her direction from across Chambersburg Street, and she drew closer to her father’s side. “Is something wrong, a cailín?” he asked solicitously, waving the boys off with a fierce scowl. “You haven’t wanted to talk to any of them since we’ve returned.” Click here to read...

Josie awoke in her own bed. When did I go to bed? was her first, disjointed thought. She remembered nothing of doing so. In fact, she remembered very little beyond Tim kissing her. She blushed a little at the memory of her response to him, how completely content she had been there in his arms. Dr. Timothy Scott. She had to laugh a little at that. It seems I’ve come full circle, she thought to herself. She couldn’t deny that she once again found the man quite attractive, both physically and otherwise. The more I’ve worked with him and talked with him, the more attracted I’ve become. Click...

It was nearly eight before Josie left Sam’s bedroom. She’d Leaned on her enough to keep her awake while she ate all of the breakfast Jeb brought up, but now her sister was curled up in her bed sound asleep. Wish I could do the same, Josie thought through a haze of exhaustion. Soon, she told herself. Look in on the others first. They had to have heard all the running around earlier. Make sure they’re taken care of and tell them not to worry. After that, go see if Tim needs anything, and then you can sleep. Click here to read...

Thursday, September 3 Day 8 Tim spent the night sleepless at Ellis’s side, one hand monitoring his pulse constantly. By dawn he was noticeably worse, pulse feeble and skin of a livid cast. Can’t put it off any longer, Tim thought wearily. He tried to push from his mind the last time he’d performed such a surgery on a child, of fighting desperately to keep life in his patient, and failing. The boy had died there beneath his hands. Click here to read...

It was a sign that the toxin was wearing down their little bodies when nobody wanted to play cards that afternoon. Instead, they all remained in bed while Josie read to them from the one book they’d sacrificed for the sickroom. Meanwhile, Tim snuck off again for Sandy’s room, this time for a much-needed appointment with a washtub. After what seemed like an eternity of reading, Josie lay Treasure Island aside. Ellis was asleep again already, for which Josie was thankful, as that seemed to indicate his condition hadn’t worsened. Sandy was quietly playing Cat’s Cradle with his little sister....

The Slow Trail Home picks up ten years after Farewell. Katja Black, Rob and Dani’s daughter, faces a nightmare situation when a madman bent on revenge abducts her. She manages to escape and finds refuge in the strangest place imaginable—a cattle drive heading up the Pecos Trail.

Roots and Branches

An in-progress collection of short stories focusing on the next generation of the Black family.